A digest. One to three times a week.

Dick Cheney Road Trip

[David Petraeus’] real mistake, I think, was going directly from four-star command to the directorship of the CIA. Rather, he should have taken some time out and reoriented himself. So the real lesson, I think, is that the time of retirement from high position is a vulnerable moment.

I didn’t think much of Dick Cheney as a vice president, but I think he was a good defense secretary. I remember being told that when he left that job, he got in a car and drove across the country alone.

That’s Thomas Ricks, who is a badass and whose blog is great reading. Ricks spent part of his high school years in Afghanistan. He was also once very generous to The Helytimes when we were looking for help on a military-related project.